Hydrocarbon fuel combustion is one of the most widely used energy sources in the world. The environmental hazards associated with with hydrocarbon fuel combustion emissions are well known, and accordingly many treatment methods have been developed to reduce harmful pollutants produced during the combustion of hydrocarbons.
For example, fuel additives have been formulated for the pre-combustion treatment of specific fuels. However, such additives are consumable and must therefore be added on a regular basis. The production of fuel additives consumes finite resources and itself contributes to environmental problems. Further, each type of fuel requires its own specially formulated additive, which must be combined with the fuel in precise proportions and is therefore not well suited for consumer use.
Post-combustion treatment devices such as catalytic converters and flue gas scrubbers have also been developed to reduce harmful combustion emissions. However, these types of devices are fuel-specific and must be properly installed and maintained in order to have a practical life span, which is in any event limited. Flue gas scrubbers also require special additives and constant control of operating parameters. Moreover, such post-combustion treatment devices do not address the efficiency of fuel combustion, and therefore do not aid in preserving non-renewable fuel resources.
Magnetic fields are known to be useful for the pre-combustion treatment of fluid fuels flowing through a conduit. In the case of fluid hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and propane, treatment by magnetic fields improves combustion efficiency by energizing the fuel molecules, which results in more complete combustion of the fuel in a combustion chamber (which may for example be the cylinder of an automobile engine) downstream of the device, and reduces both the rate of fuel consumption and the production of environmentally harmful combustion emissions.
Accordingly, pre-combustion treatment devices have been developed which enhance the combustibility of fuel such as gasoline by exposing the fuel to one or more magnetic fields as it passes through a fuel conduit upstream of the combustion device. Such devices have a virtually unlimited life span, require little or no maintenance or adjustment and are easily retrofitted to existing combustion systems.
In order to maximize the efficiency of such a system it is desirable to concentrate magnetic fields in the vicinity of the fuel conduit. Prior art systems such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,911 issued Jul. 19, 1994 to Jeong, which is incorporated herein by reference, provide a fuel conduit adjacent to a magnetic body which produce magnetic fields that radiate outwardly and thus energize the fuel as it flows through the conduit. Jeong provides a magnetic induction layer which surrounds both the magnetic body and the conduit, to induce magnetic forces around the fuel activation duct.
This system provides certain disadvantages. The size of the magnetic body is necessarily limited by confining the magnetic body within a magnetic induction layer, if the device is to be maintained within practical size limits, and the strength of the magnetic field to which the fuel is exposed is thus commensurately limited. Since the fuel conduit passes adjacent to the magnetic body only once, the degree of energization achieved during pre-combustion treatment is limited. Also, providing a metal induction layer that surrounds the magnet and the fuel conduit significantly increases the weight of the device, which can be a disadvantage particularly in automotive applications.
The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a magnetic fuel enhancement device having a series of magnets disposed about the periphery of an activation chamber and a fuel conduit extending through a magnetic field region defined between the magnets. In the preferred embodiment a metal concentrating rod extends generally centrally through the magnetic field region, attracting the magnetic fields toward the center of the chamber and thereby focusing the magnetic fields through the fuel conduit and maximizing the amount of magnetic flux which is perpendicular to the direction of fuel flow, to optimize enhancement of the fuel. Also, in the preferred embodiment the fuel conduit passes through the activation chamber many times, repeatedly exposing the fuel to magnetic fields and thus increasing the amount of energy imparted to the fuel before combustion. The invention accordingly improves fuel energization while maintaining the size and weight of the fuel enhancer within practical limits.
The present invention thus provides a fuel enhancer for the pre-combustion treatment of a fluid hydrocarbon fuel, comprising a housing, a plurality of magnets disposed within the housing in spaced apart relation and in like polar orientation, a magnetic field region being defined between the magnets, and a fuel conduit extending through the magnetic field region having a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet, whereby fuel flowing through the fuel conduit is exposed to magnetic fields within the magnetic field region and is thereby energized before egressing through the fuel outlet.
The present invention further provides a fuel enhancer for the pre-combustion treatment of a fluid hydrocarbon fuel, comprising a housing, a plurality of magnets disposed within the housing in spaced apart relation and in like polar orientation, a magnetic field region being defined between the magnets, and a fuel conduit extending through the magnetic field region having a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet, wherein the fuel conduit comprises a plurality of runs, each run passing through the magnetic field region such that fuel flowing through the fuel conduit is repeatedly exposed to magnetic fields within the magnetic field region and is thereby energized before egressing through the fuel outlet.
The present invention further provides, in combination, a hydrocarbon fuel combustion device and a fuel enhancer for the pre-combustion treatment of a fluid hydrocarbon fuel, the fuel enhancer comprising a housing, a plurality of magnets disposed within the housing in spaced apart relation and in like polar orientation, a magnetic field region being defined between the magnets, and a fuel conduit extending through the magnetic field region having a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet, whereby fuel flowing through the fuel conduit is exposed to magnetic fields within the magnetic field region and is thereby energized before egressing through the fuel outlet.
In the preferred embodiments a magnetic concentrating member extends axially across the magnetic field region, attracting magnetic fields produced by the magnets and focusing them through the fuel conduit.